This document outlines the features of a new way to govern, such as would
free resources for development and stimulate a very healthy competition
among the citizens of the diverse territories that comprise Nigeria. It details
the fundamental provisions that should be incorporated into an Act,
which when processed through the National Assembly will kick start
the process towards a Restructured viable Nigeria.
Thus, from the date that this Act comes into force, the governance of, and by,
the peoples of Nigeria, shall be in accordance to the stipulations hereby
presented/recommended.
2.0 Federal Governance Structure
(1) Nigeria shall be a Federation comprising Regions, and a Federal
Capital Territory, and shall be be known by the name of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
(2) The territorial jurisdiction of Nigeria shall comprise the
territory of the Regional members of the Federation and their
boundaries shall be as consistent with universal norms of a
Federal structure of association.
2.1 Basis of the Federation
The New Federal Constitution of Nigeria, to be drafted by the people of
Nigeria for declaration of the National Assembly, pursuant to this Act, shall
embody the following principles:
() Every Ethnic Nationality or group of peoples, in Nigeria, has an
inalienable right to self-determination.
() Every Ethnic Nationality or group of peoples in Nigeria has the
right to establish institutions of government in the territory that
it inhabits and to equitable representation in the Federal and
other Governments.
() An "Ethnic Nationality” or “People," for the purpose of this
Constitution, is a group of people who have, or share a large
measure of a common culture or similar customs, mutual
intelligibility of language, belief in common, or related,
identities, common psychological make-up, and who inhabit
identifiable, significantly contiguous territory.
2.2 Federating Regions
(1) Each Region shall comprise freely associating peoples of ethnic
nationalities, ethnic sub-nationalities and, or, clans, in
contiguous territories as would be self-determined and
constituted, within twelve (12) calendar months, based on the
processes prescribed herein this Act.
(2) Each Region may have its name, identity and any other
instruments of recognition, changed as may be necessary, and
shall determine the details thereof, through their respective
Legislatures. Whatever name and, or, nomenclature of identity,
adopted by the respective Legislatures, at whatever time
expedient, shall be deemed to have been reflected in the Federal
Constitution;
(3) Each Region shall have the right to establish its sub-regional
governing units, consistent with all relevant provisions of the
Acts and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
(4) Each Region, or constituent unit thereof, shall organise itself
towards the efficient harnessing of all potential resources,
pursuant to the full development as a political and economic
force to be reckoned with as member of the Nigerian Federation;
(6) For administrative operations and inter-regional coordination,
the Federal Government shall maintain an office only in the
Capital Cities of the Regions.
2.3 The Federal Governance
The Nigeria Peopls shall produce a Federal Constitution for Nigeria based on
the following principles
(1) The Republic of Nigeria shall comprise the Federal and Regional
Governments only. Her Constitution shall, therefore, specify, and
embody, only the governance relationships between the Federal and
Regional Administrations.
(2) Any power not currently, expressly given to the Federal
Government alone, or concurrently to the Federal and the Regional
government shall be reserved to the Regions.
(3) There shall be a National Assembly for the Federation of Nigeria.
It shall be a uni-cameral Legislature.
(4) The National Assembly shall consist of Members drawn, equally,
to represent the respective Regions of Nigeria.
(5) Each National Assembly Member shall be a representative of the
constituency of its respective Region, and, as such, not be subject to
any control and direction at the Federal level. Accordingly, he/she shall
be compensated, remunerated, disciplined and, or, recalled, only
through such provisions as may be authorised by the respective
Regions.
(6) The Federal Executive Council shall comprise single digit
number of members.
(7) Government Ministries shall be rationalised and configured in
compliance with the stipulation, in (6) above.
(8) All other subordinate appointments and designations, below
that of Minister, shall be made only from the ranks of Civil Servants
with permanent tenure in the Public Services.
(9) The Federal Executive Council and its Members, shall rely
entirely on the Civil Service and Civil Servants for all technical advice
and support, thereby precluding the proliferation of any other parallel
Bureaucracy in the form of Advisers.
(10) All subsisting Federal MDA’s are to be rationalised in favour of the
Regions, and in conformity with the Legislative List of Functions given
in Schedule II of this Act. The Regions shall inherit associated Assets
and Liabilities
2.4 Federal Judiciary
(1) The Federal Judiciary shall, to the exclusion of any other Court,
have original jurisdiction in any dispute between the Federation
and a Region, in so far as that dispute involves any question,
whether of law or fact, on which the existence or extent of a Legal
Right depends.
(2) In addition to the jurisdiction conferred upon it, the Federal
Judiciary shall have such original jurisdiction as may be
conferred upon it by any Act of the National Assembly.
(3) Provided that no original jurisdiction shall be conferred upon
the Supreme Court with respect to any civil and or criminal
matter.
2.5 Establishment and Composition of the Security Services
(1) There shall be an Armed Forces, Security and Intelligence
Services, and such other bodies for the Federation, as may be
established by an Act of the National Assembly.
(2) The composition of the Officer Corps, and other ranks, of the
Services shall be by Regional territorial configuration, such that
any service stationed in each Region shall, in respect of the other
ranks, be exclusively composed of the citizens of that territory,
while the officer Corps may, for the purpose of technical
speciality and operational cohesion, admit up to 20% of citizens
from other Regions, provided that the Head of such Regional
Command shall be an indigene of that Region.
(3) The Headship of the armed or any other security services, shall
be rotated amongst the Regions, and no one Region shall head
more than one Arm of these Forces concurrently, while another
has not been so allocated.
(4) Policing and Internal Security Services shall be decentralized
with the Federal, Regional, Sub-Regional Governments and
Communities having the right to set up and maintain their own
concurrent services; such that each level of government shall
have exclusive jurisdiction and control over its own territory,
with regards to their respective powers and functions.
2.6 Management of Resources and Revenue
(1) Each Region, and, or Constituent Units thereof shall control and
retain all resources and revenues falling within its constitutional
jurisdiction, but shall pay both Federal and Regional taxes,
according to stipulated law.
(2) For the avoidance of doubt, the entire property in, and control
of, all minerals, under, or upon, any land in Nigeria, or in, under,
or, upon, the territorial waters of Nigeria shall vest in the
Government of the Region and the Constituent Unit bearing such
resource.
(3) The National Assembly may, with the concurrence of Regional
Legislatures, make laws for Nigeria, or any part thereof, with
respect to taxes on the incomes and profits of individuals and
corporate bodies.
2.7 Fiscal Arrangement
(1) There shall be a First Line Charge Account which shall be 10%
of the total Revenue accruing to the Federal and Regional
Governments of the Federation, which shall encompass:
(a) 8% which shall be applied towards the provision of the
basic socio-economic in disadvantaged areas across the
Country;
(b) 2% to finance a Special Rehabilitation Fund for past
devastations arising from acts and omissions of the
Nigerian Nation State;
(2) The First Line Charge Account shall be administered by a
Commission consisting of one member, each, representing and
appointed, by each Regional Government, and a Member
representing the Federal Government, respectively.
(3) The balance of 90% shall, for the purpose of sharing among the
tiers of Government, be reckoned as 100% and shall be
distributed as follows:
(i) 55% Derivation
(ii) 30% to the Distributable Pool Account
(iii) 15% to the Federal Government
(4) Funds accruing to Region or State, or sub-regions, from the
Distributable Pool Account shall be applied primarily to
financing the Region’s Capital Expenditure necessary for
infrastructure. Recurrent expenditure of the Region or SubRegion shall be funded from Internally Generated Revenue.
(5) The Region or Sub Region shall be responsible for the collection
of Value Added Tax (VAT), and the Revenue derived there from,
shall be retained by the Region or Sub Regions, which shall pay
10% as tax into the First Line Charge Account.
3.0 Regional Governance
The Territory of Nigeria shall be re-configured into Regions as the
basis of the Federation
3.1 Processes and Procedure for Transformation
(1) Members of the respective Regional territories, as existing at the
commencement of this Act, are as follows:
(a) North Central Region: Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa,
Niger and Plateau;
(b) North East Region: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe,
Taraba and Yobe;
(c) North West Region: Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi,
Sokoto and Zamfara;
(d) South East Region: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and
Imo;
(e) South South Region: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River,
Delta, Edo and Rivers; and,
(f) South West Region: Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and
OyoDr.
(2) Subsequently after the commencement date, but within twelve
(12) calendar months, the respective State Assemblies shall
meet, first separately, then jointly and severally to consult and
prescribe the Processes and Guidelines to be applied towards
the institution of the suitable governance structure for their
respective territories.
(3) Ethnic Nationalities, Ethnic Sub-Nationalities and Peoples
within the territory enumerated in sub-Article 1 of this Article,
shall have the right to maintain, reconfigure or merge; and, or
establish, new Administrative Units, and, or, adopt any suitable
nomenclature as may be determined by the respective affected
State Assemblies, without any interference by any other
authority.
(3) The right of any Ethnic Nationality, or Peoples to create, merge
or reconfigure the existing States within the respective Region
shall be exercisable under the following procedures:
(a) The demand for re-configuration to be approved by a
Fifty-Five (55%) majority of the People in the area
concerned registered for the purpose;
(b) The State Assembly, or Assemblies that received the
Demand shall organize a referendum within six months to
be held in the areas of the Ethnic Nationality, Nationalities
or People that made the demand;
(c) The demand for Statehood, Local Government, or
Boundary Adjustment Configuration is supported by a
Fifty-Five (55%) majority vote in the referendum;
(d) The Regional Government will transfer its powers to the
Ethnic Nationality or People that made the demand;
(e) The newly created, or re-configured Sub-Regional entity
by the referendum and without any need for application,
automatically becomes a Unit of the Region concerned,
and thus of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
(f) The newly created, or re-configured Sub-Regional entity,
by the referendum, and shall have equal rights and
obligations as all others within the Region and in the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
(g) Where the concerned peoples and States within the
Region, fail to reach agreement on any issue pertaining to
this exercise, the affected Regional Houses of
Representatives shall decide such disputes based on
settlement patterns and the wishes of the Peoples
concerned.
(4) Also, after the commencement date, or at any other time in
future, Ethnic Nationalities and Peoples across the Regions
enumerated in Article 07(1) of this Chapter shall have the right
to express their wish to move and be merged across Regional,
but contiguous, borders.
(5) The right of any Ethnic Nationality or Peoples to create or merge,
territories contiguously across Regional Borders shall be
exercisable under the following procedures:
(a) The demand for Regional cross-border re-configuration
has been approved by a Fifty-Five (55%) majority of the
Members of People in the area concerned, and the demand
presented in writing to the two (2) or more Regional
Governments concerned;
(b) The Government of the concerned Regions that received
the demand shall jointly organize a referendum, within six
months, to be held in the area of the Ethnic Nationality or
People that made the demand;
(c) The demand for cross-border configuration is supported
by 67%) majority vote in the referendum;
(d) The two or more Regional Governments concerned will
transfer their powers to the ethnic nationality or People
that made the demand;
(e) The cross-border configuration by the referendum, and
without any need for additional application, automatically
becomes a member of the Sub-Regional entity within the
Region concerned and thus of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
(f) The newly created, or re-configured sub-regional unit by
the referendum, shall have equal rights and obligations as
all others in the Region, and thus in the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
(g) Where the concerned Regions fail to reach agreement on
any issue pertaining to this exercise, the National
Assembly shall decide such disputes, based on settlement
patterns and the wishes of the peoples concerned, with
emphasis on consensus.
(h) In all cases listed above, the decision of the National
Assembly may be the subject of an appeal to the Federal
Supreme Court. The decision of the Federal Supreme
Court shall be final.
3.2 Basis of Regional Governments
Each Region shall have the following powers and functions:
(a) To establish a Regional Administration that best advances
a democratic self-government, based on the rule of law; in
line with all provisions of the Constitution;
(b) To establish States and other administrative units, based
on the principles of federalism and self-determination that
is well suited to all constituent Ethnic Nationalities in her
territory.
(c) The Regional and or Sub-Regional legislatures shall have
power to make Laws for the peace, order and good
government of the Region, States, or any parts thereof,
with respect all residual matters not expressly stated in
the Federal Constitution.
(e) To establish and administer Regional security and
maintain public order and peace within the Region.
(f) To establish Regional Supreme, High and First-Instance
Courts. The particulars of these Courts shall be
determined by laws enacted for the purpose by the
Regional House of Representatives.
(g) Regional Supreme Courts shall have the highest and final
judicial power over Regional and Sub-Regional matters.
They shall also exercise the Jurisdiction of the Federal
High Court.
3.3 Drafting and Enactment of Regional Constitutions
(1) Each State Assembly, shall prescribe alone or jointly and
severally, the processes and procedures for the drafting of its
Regional Constitution and getting the peoples of the territory to
ratify same, prior to registration with the National Assembly, for
documentation and reference purposes only.
(2) Regional Constitution shall encompass the commanding the
tenets of Federalism and Self-determination, in dealing with the
constituent Ethnic Nationalities and sub-Nationalities.
(3) The Constitution, so enacted for each Region, shall have the force
of Law throughout that Region, but subject only to Regional
judicial supervision, without interference by any other body
3.4 Equal Rights between the Federating Regions
(1) All Regions shall have equal rights and powers. Each Region shall
have equal number of legislators in the National Assembly, such
that no Region will be conferred with a superior advantage over
any other on any ground whatsoever;
(2) The Governments at the Federal and Regional levels are distinct
and inter-dependent and shall conduct their mutual relations
based on consultation, collaboration and co-operation;
(3) Each Region shall ensure reasonable access to its services in all
parts of her territory, so far as it is appropriate to do so having
regard to the nature of the service, and subject to administrative
regulations as may be determined by the Regional Legislature.
3.5 Regional Border Changes and Disputes
(1) All Regional cross-border disputes shall be settled by agreement
of the concerned Regions. Where the concerned Regions fail to
reach agreement, the National Assembly shall decide such
disputes, based on settlement patterns and the wishes of the
peoples concerned.
(2) The decision of the National Assembly may be the subject of an
appeal to the Federal Supreme Court. The decision of the Federal
Supreme Court shall be final.
4.0 Enactments
4.1 Federal
(1) The National Assembly shall enact a Federal Constitution for
Nigeria, based on the Draft produced by all the peoples of
Nigeria, well represented in its drafting within twelve (12)
calendar months of this Act being effective. It shall be done by a
Technical Committee, based on the synthesis of all previous
enactments as may be in conformity with the provisions and
stipulations in this Act.
(2) The National Assembly shall transmit the enactment to the
respective State Assemblies for passage with a simple majority
vote of the number of State Assemblies.
(3) Upon ratification, by a simple majority number of State
Assemblies, the new Federal Constitution for Nigeria shall be
promulgated by the National Assembly and be deemed to have
been passed by the People of Nigeria.
4.2 Regional
(1) The respective State Assemblies, of each Regional territory, shall
produce a new Constitution for the Region. It shall be done by a
Technical Committee based on the synthesis of all previous
enactments as may be in conformity with the provisions and
stipulations in this Act.
(2) Upon ratification by a simple majority number of State
Assemblies, the new Regional Constitution shall be considered
as duly enacted and shall be proclaimed by the Regional
Assembly, and deemed to have been passed by the people of the
Region.
Schedule I: Transitional Provisions
(1) During the transition period, towards the enactment of the New
Federal and Regional Constitutions, the National Assembly shall
undertake the following:
(a) Codify all Federal Laws and Enactments that currently
subsists, and in force, for necessary amendment or repeal
(b) Undertake every modification and amendment to all the
existing laws, such as would bring all of them into
conformity with the letter and spirit of this Act.
(c) Formulate and manage all schemes and processes towards
an inventory and documentation of assets and projects,
inclusive of contractual liabilities as may be applicable
(d) Design and manage frameworks, and enact formulas for
the equitable sharing of all Assets and Liabilities between,
and among, all government entities.
(2) The Peoples of the territories designated and referred to as
Regions, and, or, Sub-Regions, shall immediately commence
consultative processes towards ascertaining the wishes of the
respective Ethnic Nationalities on how to live and partner
together towards charting the course of Self-development.
(3) Where applicable various processes, inclusive of a formal
referendum, shall be implemented towards arriving at the
appropriate political and economic configurations of their
territories, regarding the composition of States and, or, Region.
(4) The Federal Administration and the State Governments, as they
are at present shall do all that would be necessary towards the
effective take-off of a newly re-configured Government at the
Federal and Regional levels, on the effective date to be agreed
upon, but not later than October 1, 2021.
Schedule II: Legislative List
A. Exclusive
() Aviation, including Airports, Safety of Aircraft and Ancillary
Transport and other services.
() Borrowing of moneys outside Nigeria for the purposes of the
Federation or of any Region
() Central Banking and Banking Regulations
() Control of Capital Issues through the Security Exchange
Commission
() Currency, Coinage and Legal Tender
() Customs Duties, excluding Export Duties
() Declaration of War against External Aggression
() Defence: Naval, Army and Air Forces
() Deportation and Compulsory Removal of offending nonnationality persons from Nigeria
() Designation of Securities in which Trust Funds may be invested
in Nigeria.
() Foreign Exchange Control
() External Affairs
() Foreign Trade
() Passports and visas
() Pensions, Gratuities and other like benefits payable out of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund, or any other public fund of the
Federation
() The Public Debt of the Federation
() Public Service of the Federation, including the settlement of
disputes between the Federation and Officers in the Public
Service of the Federation
() Taxes and Duties on Revenue Sources reserved to the Federal
Government
B. Concurrent
(1) Bankruptcy and Insolvency
(2) Titles of Honour
(3) Income Taxes and Excise Duty
(4) Fingerprints, identification and Criminal Records.
(5) Energy, Electricity and Gas
(6) Power to make Grants of Money, etc., for any legitimate purposes
(7) Trades and Commerce
(8) Prerogative of Mercy
(9) Public Prosecution
(10) Land and Marine Transportation and its Infrastructure
Development
(11) Ownership and Control of Other Defence and Security Services
(12) Prison Services
(13) Borrowing of moneys within Nigeria for the purposes of the
Federal, Regional and or State Governments.
(14) Census
(15) Enforcement of the Human Rights established by the
Constitution and International Conventions
(16) Railways, including ancillary transport and other services.
(17) Information Technology, including Internet Services
(18) Inter-Regional Commerce
(19) Weights and Measures
(20) Scientific Research
C. Residual List
(1) All the powers not expressly delegated to the Federal
Government by the Constitution, are therefore exclusively
reserved to the Regions.
First Draft by
Dr. Akin FAPOHUNDA
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